But several trusts have recently ordered family doctors to cut the number of cycles on offer to two or one.

Eight PCTs – in Luton, Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Waltham Forest, Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham, Portsmouth and Bolton – admitted they had not funded any IVF treatment for two years, acccording to the Pulse study.

NHS Warrington, which recently stopped all funding for IVF until at least 2011 insisted its priority had to be maintaining “high quality local healthcare”.

NHS Brighton and Hove, which now funds only two cycles, said the limit was in line with a region-wide policy across the south east of England.

Some GPs warned that the dilemma was “typical” of the problems they would have to grapple with under government plans to hand them control of their own budgets.

:: A total of 124 PCTs responded to questions put by the magazine under the Freedom of Information Act.